Faculty

Erving Polster

PhD
Director
Gestalt Training Center San Diego

Erving Polster, PhD in Clinical Psychology, is a veteran teacher of gestalt therapy and has authored 6 books. In his current writings, he offers perspectives and designs for a communal application of psychotherapy principles. He also describes and celebrates a powerful contemporary momentum for people-at-large to join together in the search for personal and social enlightenment.

2024 Sessions

Enchantment: The Secret Ally of Psychotherapy

Dr. Polster will address the inherent enchantment of therapeutic connectedness and its accompanying openness to enabling personal experiences.

Discussant

Speaker

Thursday, December 10 2:30–4:00 PM
Clinical Demo with Discussant
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

Faculty

Erving Polster

PhD
Director
Gestalt Training Center San Diego

Erving Polster, PhD in Clinical Psychology, is a veteran teacher of gestalt therapy and has authored 6 books. In his current writings, he offers perspectives and designs for a communal application of psychotherapy principles. He also describes and celebrates a powerful contemporary momentum for people-at-large to join together in the search for personal and social enlightenment.

We've Had Antidepressants for Over 30 Years Now: So, Hows' That Working Out for Us?

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is the most common mood disorder on earth and earlier this year was ranked as the number one cause of suffering and disability worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO). Depression is a complex, multi-faceted disorder and many different theories have been formulated to describe its etiology and course. In this joint presentation, Drs. Polster and Yapko will compare and contrast their viewpoints about depression, the liberal use antidepressant medications, and why good psychotherapy is more important than ever.

Speaker

Friday, December 11 8:00–9:30 AM
Great Conversation
Faculty

Erving Polster

PhD
Director
Gestalt Training Center San Diego

Erving Polster, PhD in Clinical Psychology, is a veteran teacher of gestalt therapy and has authored 6 books. In his current writings, he offers perspectives and designs for a communal application of psychotherapy principles. He also describes and celebrates a powerful contemporary momentum for people-at-large to join together in the search for personal and social enlightenment.

Faculty

Michael Yapko

PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Private Practice

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist residing near San Diego, California. He is internationally recognized for his innovative work in applying clinical hypnosis in outcome-focused strategic psychotherapy, especially in the active, non-pharmacological treatment of depression. He has been invited to present his innovative ideas and methods to colleagues in more than 30 countries across six continents, as well as throughout the United States. He is a critic of the medical model of depression and instead advocates for a social perspective, suggesting the problem is less about neurochemistry and more about circumstances and perspectives in how you manage them. His highly practical YouTube lecture on How to Recover from Depression has been viewed more than 5.2 million times.

Dr. Yapko is the author of 16 books, including the new 6th edition of his classic hypnosis text Trancework, his award-winning book for professionals, Process-Oriented Hypnosis, and his popular books for a general audience, Depression is Contagious and Breaking the Patterns of Depression. His works have been translated into 10 languages. He is also the developer of the popular digital hypnotherapy mental health app called Claria in association with Mindset Health (www.mindsethealth.com). More information about Dr. Yapko is available on his website: www.yapko.com.

On the personal side, Dr. Yapko is happily married to his wife, Diane, a pediatric speech-language pathologist. Together, they enjoy hiking in the great outdoors in their spare time.

Interview with Dr. Erving Polster

Join this session, to view the recently filmed interview of Dr. Jeffrey Zeig and Dr. Erving Polster.<br><br> Erving Polster received his Ph.D. degree from Western Reserve University in 1950. In 1953, he became a student of gestalt therapy and in 1956 began to conduct workshops about the method. Polster is now 100 years old. <br> <br>Polster and Jeffrey Zeig first met in 1973 and have taught programs together through the years. In this wide ranging interview they discuss essentials of psychotherapy and methods to improve its practice.

Faculty

Presenter

Thursday, December 15 4:45–5:45 PM
Room Osceola CD
Faculty

Erving Polster

PhD
Director
Gestalt Training Center San Diego

Erving Polster, PhD in Clinical Psychology, is a veteran teacher of gestalt therapy and has authored 6 books. In his current writings, he offers perspectives and designs for a communal application of psychotherapy principles. He also describes and celebrates a powerful contemporary momentum for people-at-large to join together in the search for personal and social enlightenment.

Jeffrey Zeig

PhD
Director
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation

Dr Zeig is the Director and Founder of The Milton Erickson Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona. He has edited or authored 20 books on psychotherapy including A Teaching Seminar with Milton Erickson and The Evolution of Psychotherapy.
Dr. Zeig has served the Architect and Organizer of: The Evolution Conferences; The Couples Conferences; the Erickson Seminars and The Milton H. Erickson Congresses. Dr Zeig is a Clinical Psychologist and marriage and family counselor in Phoenix, Arizona. In his private practice he specializes in brief psychotherapy and hypnotherapy. Dr. Zeig teaches nationally and internationally and has presented at major medical centers in the United States.

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